Dark woods circus!
by InPerfectSilence
Summary: Why won't you come and join us! We are the children, the freaks of nature, shunned from society anywhere else... A deformed diva... A cannibalistic man... Conjoined twins... A new pair of giantesses... Come, if you dare.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Welcome to my first Vocaloid fanfic! I know I have a billion other things better to do, but meh. I got a random plot bunny and I had to write it down before I lost it. And here it is! The weather was so horrible today; a thunderstorm for the WHOLE FRICKEN DAY! D: At least I'm on holidays. And yeah, I spent my day cooped up writing this and my other story! It is my darkest story yet, and also my first written in present tense, so if you see any spelling/grammatical mistakes, please correct me. I'm not too happy with it, but tell me what you think!**

**...**

_Come to the Dark Woods Circus! It's fun!_

That is what was written on the flyer handed out to everybody in the town. If only they had known…

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.

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The cast of the circus is jolly. That is what is claimed. In actuality, the cast is an assortment of once-normal freaks; the deformed diva, the Siamese twin with two heads, the man who likes to eat things cold… and these are just the main attractions. Many others have gone before them. None have ever been seen by their family again. The freaks are here until they die. And the ringmaster does not want them to die any time soon.

And what the ringmaster says goes.

.

.

.

The deformed diva lies in her cage. The cage is very tall, and very wide, but her goat-legs cannot take her very far. Not if they are chained up. Not that she could escape anyway. She has lost all hope. Where would she go? What could she do? As horrible as she is, nobody would want to even look at her. Even so, she can't help but feel sorry for the twins. Two heads on one body, stitched on horribly with thread. The girl always smiles, eyes empty. The boy is emotionless. That is why he has the most scars on his face. The master loves to torture his captives. Especially those who don't cooperate. The girl is just broken. She broke a long time ago. The diva can barely remember a time when the girl would stand up for her brother, fighting with tooth and nail so they wouldn't get a hold of him.

They did anyway.

Although she didn't realise at the time, when the roaring thing went up, down, screams, silence, a splat of red on the glass of the door…

Now she knows.

But it is too late. All she can do is try to stop the children from being lured by the twins into the tent, where they are held captive.

A growl escapes from the corner of the room. Poor Kaito, he can't even remember who he is. He used to be a man from a rather wealthy family, but now he is just a cannibal. No better than a dog. A few rare moments, he can be found sulking or crying himself to sleep, but soon enough he will wake up and resume his daily routine of sniffing, growling and whimpering.

"Miku… I'm hungry…" And, on occasion, he will speak, but only if his Kaito personality lets him. After all, dogs don't need to speak.

"I know, Kaito." The diva rasps. "I know."

Kaito shuffles closer to the bars to let Miku reach out and ruffle his hair.

"Can't… eat Miku though…" Kaito struggles with his syllables, slurring and carefully shaping them as if he were drunk. "Miku… nice… Len… nice… No like… Rin…"

"I know." Miku has heard this before, many times. Rin is scary. She almost seems to enjoy the circus. She definitely had gone off the deep end a long time ago.

"Hello!" Chirps a new voice. It is Rin. The twins are the only ones allowed out of their cages. Perhaps it is because Rin is such a 'good girl'. Or perhaps it is just that they won't try to eat everyone they hand the flyers out to. Both of them seem logical.

"Miku," Says the boy, Len, as he kisses one of her teal locks of hair.

"We met someone new today!" Rin jumps back, pulling her brother with her.

"She will come-"

"-tonight! I bet she will!"

"We will have company soon." Len bows his head as best he can. Miku puts her face in her hands. Even Kaito howled. Rin has that insane grin on her face, but it lessens a bit.

"Why does master make us go outside?"

Silence governs the room. Rin does not ask those sorts of questions. It is not in her character. She sounds almost… sad.

"We got you something today." The twins say. It is difficult to keep track of who says what. Quietly, they slip something green under the bars of Miku's cage, and Rin unwraps in ice cream and passes it through the bars.

"I remember when you used to love these things." Now the smile has completely gone from her face. She looks the same as her brother, and if they were the same gender, they could be identical. Kaito, shocked, looks at the ice cream, then at Rin, and snatches it with his teeth and scampers off to the corner of his cage to eat it. Then Rin's face cracks into a grin again and the twins make their way into their cage, next to Miku's. The huge tent looms high above them, and the tent flap is all the way on the other side. Between them are more cages and an empty open space for vigorous training, also known as torture.

"Good night!" Rin chirps to her brother. Her brother mumbles something in reply. Miku rasps something similar and Kaito yips and whimpers, slobbering over his ice cream. They only get a few hours respite before Kaito wakes them with a howl.

"10 pm! Time to get up!" Comes the chirping voice from the twins.

"Two hours until we are ridiculed publicly again." Says the lower, more sombre voice.

The prisoners of the circus get up and stretch their legs, chew on the bars, or twirl in a little dance.

And then _she_ walks in.

The girl is tall, but no older than 16 or 17. She has long, white hair tied in a loose, flowing ponytail. Her red eyes scan the freaks in their cages. She doesn't scream, instead, she moves towards them.

"Told you." Says the grinning Rin. The girl, however, just continues to stare at them.

"Are you…?"

"Conjoined? Yes." That is Miku. The girl walks closer to the diva. Kaito begins to make sounds as if he is hyperventilating. He growls at the girl. She cautiously tip-toes up to the bars. Kaito is on all fours, slowly moving backwards. She frowns.

"Why is he doing that?"

Miku looks at her sadly. "Kaito, be nice to our new guest."

Kaito creeps forward like a wolf, sniffs a little, then sits down. He looks at her expectantly. She ruffles his hair.

"… Name?..." He whimpers. The girl drops her hand quickly.

"H-Haku…"

"Like Ha-ku…" Kaito says, breaking her name up strangely. Haku smiles and giggles. Then, Miku abruptly stands up on goat legs, trembling.

"You need to get out of here! Now!" Miku puts as much force into it as she can while still whispering.

"Why? It's so much FUN!" Rin giggles, as if what she said was very funny. "Ow, Leenn, don't poke me!"

Kaito suddenly curls up in a ball. Miku falls back down. The Siamese twins are silent. Haku's smile drops right off her face. '_Something bad is going to happen_,' Is what ran through her head before a large hand clapped around her mouth, muffling her screams of protest. She tries kicking, but all that manages to do is have a hand clasp around her neck. It tightens, and Haku finds herself short of breath, choking, trying to gasp in some precious air.

"Come with me, Haku," Says a man's voice behind her. "You are the newest addition to our… _circus._"

At first, Haku doesn't understand, but looking at the faces of the cast tells her what she needs.

_She will never be able to go back home again._

She doesn't even struggle as the man pulls her away, out of the tent and into a shed.

After she leaves, Miku weeps. Len tries to console her by stroking her hair, to no avail. Rin stops grinning, looking at her brother who is on the verge of tears. Kaito just circles around his cage, attacking the bars at random intervals. The ringmasters assistant stumbles in. Rin plasters another grin on her face.

"Kaito!" She says sternly. "Come with me! You should know better than that!"

She attaches a lead to Kaito's neck and drags him outside. Miku wails even more, taking care not to alert the assistant outside. They spend a minute or so outside, then the woman walks back in, Kaito in tow. He is wearing a white straitjacket, the kind that he normally wears onstage so he won't go insane and eat the audience. He kept his gaze down, ashamed for not getting a treat or even a pat.

"Stay in there!" The cruel woman shoves the boy in without another word. She turns on her heel and leaves.

Together, the prisoners sit in the darkness, illuminated by the moon, until it is time for the show to begin.

.

.

.

The tent darkens, and the lights go out. Suddenly, spotlights appear on the stage.

"_Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to… The Dark Woods Circus!"_

One girl watches all the acts. A few acrobats, a conjoined pair of twins, the deformed diva who sang a haunting and beautiful song, a man with blue hair who ate raw flesh… She doesn't want to know where they got it from… And when it is over, she cheers and claps politely with everyone else.

The crowd disperses, so does she. The blonde girl waltzes out of the tent, pleased with the performance. Most of the people have already gone; she is alone on the gravel path. A quiet voice whispers her name.

"Neru…?"

"Who's there?" She whirls around, but can see no one. "Who's there? Do I know you?"

Something shuffles in the dark beyond. Neru looks toward the sound.

"Neru, it's me!"

The voice is coming from the shadows over there. Neru pauses, trying to remember that voice…

"Haku?" She can't believe it. What is her best friend doing here? She hears sniffling, and the attempt to hold back tears. "Haku, what's wrong?"

"Don't! You don't want to look at me!" Haku's voice cracks. There is more shuffling.

"Haku, please. You weren't there tonight. I thought you wanted to see this circus!" Neru is puzzled. Why would her friend be hiding in the woods outside a circus.

"I-" The voice stops, and Neru hears the sound leaves crunching. "You promise not to scream or anything?"

Neru gulps down her fear. "No- of course not!" But inside she is shaking.

Haku gets up slowly. Neru can see a silhouette rising, rising. She expects it to stop and to see her best friend's face, but instead she ends up looking at her knee. She cranes her neck and steps backward to try and see Haku's face. It is there, looking sad, her hair as white as ever.

At that moment, Neru is torn between screaming, running, and saying something ridiculous. She remembers her promise to her friend, and tightens her shins so they will stop shaking.

"Uh-er, well- I…" Neru stutters, trying to find the right words to say. She doesn't, and Haku drops down onto the ground, tucking her knees in and resting her head on her arms. She starts to cry. Neru feels bad for making her best friend cry, even if she is all of a sudden two stories high.

"Hey, Haku," Neru stops, unsure of what to say next. Instead of saying anything, she just walks closer to Haku. Even while sitting, Haku is still higher then Neru, if only by an inch. "It's okay." She says as she rests a hand on Haku's elbow.

"Wh-what?" She asks dazedly. Then she smiles. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Thank you."

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.

.

The occupants of the circus are, once again, alone in their cages. The show is over. They have one day of respite before the next show. Miku wrings her hands in utter despair. She says nothing, but it is obvious she is worried about Haku, the newest addition to the 'family', as Rin so kindly put it. That is when the tallest person anyone had ever seen crawls through the tent flap, finds a place devoid of cages and huddles in it, her clothes and white hair dripping wet. She is sobbing.

"Haku…" Kaito whines dreamily. Miku gasps and clutches at the bars.

"Haku!"

The twins, one ever grinning, the other dead silent, look over to her.

"What's wrong?" Asks the boy, Len.

"Why are you wet?" The girl, Rin, chimes.

Haku wipes away tears with the sleeve of her shirt. She almost asks them why they weren't afraid of her, but mentally kicks herself for not remembering them. Instead, she says; "Th-there's- it's raining outside." She manages to say. A peal of thunder rumbles from outside and Haku practically touches the roof, all things considered. "I hate thunderstorms."

The others want to comfort her, perhaps to give her a towel, to embrace her, but it is impossible. Not with them being them and her being as she is. Instead, Miku settles for something slightly less consolating.

"I'm sorry."

An uncomfortable silence follows. Nobody speaks, not even Rin, not even Kaito. Haku eventually stops sniffing and stares blankly ahead. Then;

"It hurts." She shoots the twins a pained look, the kind that seems to say: "Why-did-you-bring-me-here?" Len averts his gaze, ashamed. Rin just smiles. Eventually, Haku decides she should go outside before someone finds her where she shouldn't be. She does all this with the utmost politeness.

"She'll break sooner or later." Rin says in an overly cheery voice.

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.

.

Haku is, as per usual, doing laps around the tent site. There is no way she can escape from the ringmaster, as he has just recently attached a long, thin chain to her ankle. It is chained to a tree taller than herself just outside the tent. It gives her enough room to move almost freely around the circus, but prevents her from running too far. She could not run anyway. Her legs especially feel like they are going to fall off with any step she makes. But, the only thing to keep her from going insane ("Like Rin," Miku had whispered into her ear one particularly stormy night.) is walking. So she walks.

That is, she walks until she hears someone call her name from the ground so far below her.

"Haku?"

Haku turns, forgetting for a moment how tall she is. Neru stands, waiting, hand on her hip just like old times.

"Neru…?"

"You didn't think I'd just run off on you, did ya?" Neru smirks good-naturedly. Haku sits down, leaning against the very tree which chains her. Neru stands and leans one hand on the tree so that their head height is about the same. Almost.

"Neru, what are you doing here?" Haku has a look of panic mixed with relief on her face.

"I thought you'd be glad to see me," Neru huffs and twirls away, pretending to walk off.

"No!" Haku half-reaches out her hand, but draws it back; her hand is bigger than Neru's head. "No, don't leave me alone." Neru has half the heart to tell her she was joking, but Haku's face shows so much pain and hurt… things a teenager should never have to experience.

"Shh, I'm not really going to leave, just cheer up, 'kay?"

Haku shakes her head. "You should get out of here, now!" She says, echoing Miku's words from a few nights before. Neru sighs in confusion.

"You want me to leave now?"

"No!" Haku stammers, losing confidence quickly. "It's just… look at what they did to me!"

Neru looks. Haku is wearing pinstripe tuxedo pants, and a shirt with coattails that reminds Neru of an orchestra conductor. Perched on her head is a fancy black top hat. All oversized, of course.

And Neru's gaze is drawn to where Haku is looking; behind her. She turns…

"_NO!"_ The white-haired girl is trapped by chains drawn suddenly – as if by magic – around her wrists, pressing her to the dirt. She can only watch as they drag her best friend away.

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To this day, if you are lucky, you can see the wonders of the circus. Children who cannot even carry the shaking limbs they were born with. Who would be shunned in society if they were anywhere else… The deformed diva, the cannibal man, the conjoined twins, and the two giantesses who are doomed to eternally waltz in this madness.

Come, if you dare.

_After all…_

_It's fun!_

_..._

**I apologise if the last bit annoyed you. I don't have the video in front of me and I kinda wanted it to be a little bit original. Hope you enjoyed, or at least read down to the bottom of the page...**

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**Please review! If I get enough reviews I might think of more one-shots to write! Please! Tell me what went wrong, what went well and what the square root of 170 is!**

**Just kidding! But seriously, review.**

_**It's fun!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Piko

**Chapter 2: Traitor's blood.**

**I have had sudden inspiration to write this! Sorry it took so long, but clocking in at 5354 words, it's pretty impressive, right?  
>Anyway, for the rest of this fic, everything will be in oneshot style. So, nothing will link, yet at the same time, EVERYTHING WILL.<br>This means that you don't have to read the chapters in any order or anything. So long as you read the first chapter/oneshot you will get EVERYTHING.**

**Make sense?**

**So, even though this fic says it's 'complete'... IT LIES! If you like it, put it on ALERT because I don't know how many oneshots I am going to make for this. It's a spur of the moment thing.**

**That said, enjoy! :)**

**WARNINGS: Blood, violence, possible disturbing themes.**

**...**

I sweep the floor of the tent. The scratchy broom echoes throughout the theatre, which was empty a while ago. The roof seems to touch the sky, it's so large. And the width! Don't get me started. It usually takes me about an hour simply to sweep the dust off the floor.

And then there's the popcorn under the seats. I swear I will never eat popcorn again.

The wind makes an awful noise outside the circus. The trees are positioned perfectly so that they form an organic whistle, and it can get pretty annoying when it gets windy.

I manage to somehow clean half the tent in record time and am about to move onto the stage area when the ringleader approaches me.

"Piko," He says. "Piko, the lion has escaped and the birds have all but dropped dead from exhaustion."

How he stays so calm about it all, I'll never know.

I, on the other hand, fret about it.

No circus, no job. No job, no money. There is no possible way for me to get employed in my town, not now that I'm already knee-deep in this business. I know he knows that. He probably knows that I know that he knows that I know.

And so forth.

"What do you want me to do about it?" I ask as rudely as possible. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't so generally polite.

"I need you, Piko." Of course I knew he'd say that. I protest quickly. 'You don't need my help', I plan on saying. 'I'm happy enough just dusting the circus, not in it!'

The ringmaster speaks before I even have the chance. "Piko, I have a task for you. Come with me."

I have no choice but to follow. After all, who could disobey such a powerful person?

He shows me the lost creature. I almost feel sorry for it, but I don't let my emotions show on my face. I pick up the leftovers and shove them onto the cart. I know it will trundle off soon and we won't have to deal with the aftertaste.

The remains leave stains on my hands.

The tent which we leave is not the same as the one the audience sees the show; no, it's the darker tent to the side that you don't notice as you walk in. But if you did happen to, you'd see them. Lions, tigers, bears. All in neat little cages with open mouths, howling at you. You'd run, right? Well, I'm highly trained to deal with these freaks.

One singing, pitiful creature clutches at her cage. The ringmaster cracks his cane over her knuckles, drawing red marks on her pale skin. She desists.

We walk through the tent, trying my best to ignore the things in cages. One creature is being fed quite roughly by another circus-hand. The poor girl seems so frightened of the meat-eating creature in the cage. I've always thought that the ringmaster should leave those hard jobs to us men.

"Piko," The man says once more. He really ought to stop saying that.

"Yes, master?" I say involuntarily.

"Piko, my circus is running low on actors…" Oh, are they actors now, are they? I thought they were lions.

"Yes?" I try so hard not to make my voice tremble even the slightest.

"I need a way to re-fill my supply." We keep walking through, to the other entrance and outside. Rain drizzles from the heavens and wets my hair.

We make it to the last tent without saturating myself, although the ringmaster stays as dry as usual, and enter. Except this tent is more like a small entrance. I halt at the door.

"What are you waiting for, Piko?"

I muster my courage and step through the doors. Straight away there is a staircase. Oh, and it is very white. Pristinely so. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought this was a hospital.

"This way."

I follow, bewildered, and completely lost. There seems to be rows upon rows of white doors. The effect is disorientating, even if the corridor is completely straight.

I pass a room that is empty.

A room holding a girl, curled up in the corner.

Another empty room.

A room that has so much blood I can't see through.

This is the room he takes me to.

This room is not lit. That means I cannot see inside easily. The ringmaster seems to see just fine though, so I can't complain.

A table lies in the middle of the room, almost obnoxiously. It hasn't been cleaned since the last time it was used. A small pile of… things can be seen in the corner. I daren't ask what they are.

"Master?" A voice whines. It reminds me somewhat of an over-loyal dog, willing to follow its master to the ends of the earth.

"Ah, my child," He says. Wait, he had a child? Or was this another one of his weird metaphors?

"Come here."

A woman steps out, older than I, and even taller than I, with short-cropped brown hair and her head tilted quizzically. As if she were trying to make the picture almost cute, were it not for the chainsaw at her side. I panic for a second. Surely it wasn't my turn?

"This is Piko," Panic. Panic. Panic. "He is going to help me-" Sweat. Panic. Tremble. "- to find some more subjects for your… creative work." Relief.

"How so?" The woman asks, turning her eyes towards me.

"Well, first off, I need to somehow increase the population of my little circus, hm?" He says.

"How might one do that?" I ask.

"Well, that's where you come in. How might we fill these rooms?"

I think a little bit. If our subjects are all visitors to the circus, most who made it into the side tent where they are stored, then we'd need something that instantly attracted attention, something that could make people go, 'Ooh! Look at that! I'd like to go there!' rather than just a poster which could be ambiguous…

"How about… we make a feature _outside_ the circus, so as to attract people… to the circus…" I trail off when I notice their gazes fixed on me. Gulping, I hurriedly continue.

"A-and I saw something in one of the rooms we just passed… Uh, to the right, I think, and…"

I silently pray that I didn't overdo it. By the look on the ringmaster's face, I didn't.

"What a smashingly perfect idea, Piko. We shall use our latest capture to make a living, walking advertisement!"

That wasn't exactly what I meant, but it suits me. I'm not the one joining this horrid circus.

He makes me fetch this subject. Room 221. Relatively clean… Obviously hasn't been used before.

Inside is a young girl with white hair like mine. She looks as if she had been crying all day, whimpering and drawing in quick breaths. As if she knows what's going to happen to her.

I take her by the wrists, firmly. She struggles a bit, but I am the stronger one and I manage only just to pull her onto her feet.

"Cooperate," I say. My voice comes out soft and… shaking?

She gives up, finally, and allows me to take her down to the room with the red window. The sight of it causes her to struggle again. I almost let go of her, but the door opens and the ringmaster takes her off my hands. Her eyes widen and seem to say, 'Let me go! Piko, help me!' But I can do nothing. The ringmaster takes her into the room and I have no choice but to follow. Her eyes still scream at me, making me feel almost guilty for becoming part of this circus.  
>I really didn't have much of a choice in the matter.<p>

We manage to somehow get her stretched out on the table, cufflinks holding her down. Big machine things clamped onto her hands and feet. Something must have happened, because she screams. And then falls silent, tears rolling down her cheeks. The ringmaster nods to the woman, and she grins from ear to ear, baring all of her teeth, and presses a little button on the side of the table. She grabs a syringe from who-knows-where and stabs it right into the girl's arm. All the liquid inside is squeezed right into her body, while she screams and screams.

There is a buzzing, whirring, inhuman-like sound emitting from the… table?

Is- is it just me, or is she getting longer?

Ringmaster seems pleased with the progress, as he smiles, revelling in the screams of pain.

It makes me sick.

I have to escape.

Too much, too much.

Blood.

Screams.

Doors, doors, swish past me as I run as far away as possible. Out to the forest.

I shiver under a tree. The rain is coming down harder now, and my clothes are soggy and wet. My hair sticks to my forehead as I gulp in air.

I never thought it would be like that at all!

How does she stand it?

The rain dissipates before my very eyes, my weary, sleep-deprived eyes. How long did I take?

Too long.

I… I like working where I am.

I suppose.

It makes money. And I don't get hurt so long as I stay in line.

The line keeps getting finer and finer.

Is that the moon peeking out from behind the clouds? So it is.

Doors slam. A _loud_ slam.

I can hear the whirring again. Just behind my ears, ringing, like a fly that won't go away. I'd run, but my legs seem to be made of lead, or heavier.

_Run!_ I scream at myself, and my legs finally obey, lurching me forward and over the harsh undergrowth. A bramble sticks into my hand as I fall, causing a sharp pain to shoot up my arm. Red liquid pours onto the ground like a tsunami. I scream.

Another scream echoes. I shut my mouth quickly, but the other scream keeps going, stopping at times, starting up again, yelling, shouting, and the sound of…

Whirring.

I turn my head ever-so-slowly in the direction of the whirring.

They are bringing her out now. Oh. This might not go down so well if she sees me.

I hide as best I can behind and under and in, but I can't help peek upwards. She is brought out on a silver platter, the very machine used to _change_ her. Into this.

Clothes are just a bit too big. But the table is too small.

What?

Oh. That makes sense.

They unclip her from the table and shove her onto the ground. It looks painful, but I am not prepared to risk my neck for her.

As soon as the shadows slip away, I am off again. Best not be caught sleeping on the job.

Otherwise…

I pass her. She is curled up under the big tree, with a big and heavy chain keeping her grounded. Like a bird.

She is shuddering and convulsing. Is she… alright? I can't help but feel sorry for her.

I watch in horrible fascination as she almost changes before my eyes. Not only does she actually fit into the too-big clothes now, but she stops. Dead still. And slowly, slowly, she lifts her head and looks at me.

Red.

Red.

Red.

White.

Black.

Red.

I run.

Away from her, away from red. But how can I recognise those eyes?

And back in the tent, after everyone leaves once more, I begin my daily ritual.

Sweep. Scrape. Swoosh. Eerie whistling.

It's a perfect setting for a circus of freaks.

"Piko."

It is the ringmaster again.

"Piko, I am very impressed with your work."

Is this a promotion? A ticket of leave?

"I am here to introduce… a new _employee_." The glint in his eye is not promising at all.

This _employee_ is a girl of my age, approximately, with white hair and red, red eyes.

Red like blood. And maliciousness.

She smiles coldly.

"Hello. My name is Tei. Tei Sukone. I believe you are Piko, am I correct?"

I can do nothing but nod silently.

"Good, Tei. Piko. Show her the… ropes, I believe you say. And good day."

It is the middle of the night.

Tei steps forward.

"Hello." An extended hand? A reach and grab it. Shake it.

"Nice… nice to meet you." I say, drowned in the red, red eyes like dangerous whirlpools.

"Same."

Now silence reigns as I turn back to my broom. She still stays there? Why? Oh, I was supposed to teach the weird girl. According to the ringmaster. And he is the dictating leader here. Not that I would tell him that, of course.

"Okay, here's the deal." I say, and I sound tired and old, even, to my ears. "Rule number one, the most important if you want to keep the peace here, _no fraternising with customers._" Seeing the inquisitive look in her eye, I continue. "Because we don't want to leak out any classified information, see? And rule number two, if you want to keep your job, _don't get caught spending more time than necessary with the creatures_. Actors, monsters, whatever you call them. And most importantly, the third rule, if you value your life, _don't disrespect the ringmaster._ No talking back, no refusing to do a job, no oversleeping, no breaking rules and no going into town without master's permission. Master is your caretaker now. You have no family." My voice almost breaks, but I am lucky.

"And by the way, the rules were set by the master."

I hide grin as I continue my waltz around the stage. The girl, Tei, still stands there, fingering at the hem of her shirt.

"Piko," She says. In the exact tone the ringmaster uses when he is planning something behind my back. "Do you think you could, perhaps, show me around? I need a tour of this circus, after all."

Despite my instincts telling me to say no, I agree. What? Why did I do that?

First, I take her backstage, just in case she ever has to prepare creatures for performance. She doesn't seem particularly interested.

Next, I show her the way to the dark back tent. Her red eyes narrow, but quickly light up when she sees inside.

"Is this it?"

"What?"

"I thought there'd be more…" She continues as if I had never spoken.

"We used to have more, but they all died…" I start to say, but Tei walks down by the cages, ignoring my existence. I feel irritation stir inside me at her insolence. How is she to act like that if I've been here longer? If _I_ was the one taken during the night? If _I-_

No, I'm getting carried away. If she gets killed, it's her own fault.

Not mine.

"Hey, what's this one?"

"They have no names." I say bluntly. Tei just stoops down to look at something, but forgets all about her earlier question. My fist clenches, as does my jaw. I stiffly take her to the deceptively small white-red building. I stop inches from the door. Tei seems to want to look inside.

"Please?"

I refuse, but there is something in her eye that subdues my anger, perhaps because she looks so… capable of… things.

In the end, she ends up going inside anyway, but I close the doors behind her, leaving her trapped without the key which I own.

Under my breath, I chuckle.

Her own fault.

In the tent again, I can't help but look for what she was looking at. A phone. A small, handheld device that was purple and rather plain. It promptly started to buzz.

I looked at it sceptically but picked it up and pressed the green "answer" button.

"Hello?" A voice half-screeches, half asks into the speaker. I am tempted to pull the phone away from my ear, but for some reason, I keep it close.

"Haku! I haven't been able to contact you! Oh my god, are you ok? I really wanted to ask you if you were still going to that circus thing that's being advertised… it has been for a while actually… um, are you actually there?"

In the small gap in her long-winded speech, I manage to utter a few small words:

"I don't think Im the person you're looking for."

Silence.

"What?" Her tone instantly turns more sour and pinched.

"My name is Piko. I don't know a Haku."

More silence, accompanied by a strained, very worried sounding gasp.

"But- this is her phone… I…. How…"

She hangs up quickly. I sigh and place he phone in my back pocket. Some people just overreact about the tiniest things.

The tent is spotless in no time. Both tents, because I am feeling generous and bored.

My pocket buzzes in a few short bursts. I pull out the phone. A text message shows up on the screen.

"_Stranger, if you don't tell me where my friend is, you'll be sorry. ~Akita Neru"_

She really is an idiot, using her own phone to text me. Because now I know her name and even address. If I were a stalker, that Akita girl would be in deep, deep trouble.

"Piko."

It's the ringmaster again. Again.

"What have you been telling that Tei girl?"

"Um…" Have I stuffed up already? I better not have. "Nothing?" Better to be safe than sorry.

"Well, that girl's a natural! She… shows interest in what we are doing…"

_Unlike you._

"She may get promoted quite soon!" Master smiles an unfriendly smile. He ruffles my pale hair. "Just keep working, Piko. You have been quite valuable to us as well. Why, if it weren't for you, Haku never would have made it to the circus!"

Haku…

Master walks away, humming.

Haku…

Oh my god.

_That_ Haku.

My mind races. What to do? If only I were calm and rational like Master. Or- Tei.

Under the shelter of a large tree, I fumble with the buttons on the phone.

Calling… Akita Neru.

Good.

The phone rings for a bit.

"Hello?" She says darkly. I can just imagine her eyebrows drawing together.

"This is Piko again. Uh- I-I have some useful information. Um…" I start to think of the blood, blood, blood, and the screams of the previous girl. "When do you have free time?"

She seems very wary of me at first, but eventually she softens and we decide to meet each other in the town square tomorrow morning. I smile. I don't know why.

The next morning comes quickly. I wake up and lift myself off my cot. I avoid Tei as much as possible and start feeding the creatures, seeing as today was my shift. The vicious blue one nearly takes off my hand.

I make to leave the tent, but the female half of the abomination laughs piercingly.

"Piko! Don't run away from us, will you?"

I hesitate, but continue on, building up speed as I run faster and faster. What did she mean? She couldn't have… no… she couldn't know about my trip to town today!

Then why…?

I have to force such thoughts out of my mind as I reach the residential area of town. I feel almost claustrophobic as the buildings lean in towards me.

My pace has slowed to a walk by the time I reach town square. It is quite busy already, considering the sun only rose an hour ago.

I end up waiting for a long while before a short, very irritated looking girl approaches me, hand on her hips and glaring yellow eyes looking up at me in defiance. Her yellow (Yellow, yellow, yellow… I pray it won't turn red) phone in hand.

"And who the hell do you think you are?"

Talk about feisty. And what ever happened to stranger danger?

"Piko." I answer honestly. As honestly as I can.

"And? That gives you permission to steal my best friend's phone? What have you done with her? Come on spit it out!" She says so fast, it sounds like one long sentence.

I open my mouth to tell her everything, to lift the weight off my chest, but I can't. Images of screaming, tortured innocents rush to mind. Since when had I ever been troubled by the transformations? Perhaps it was because… She looked so much like me?

Not immediately, but the soft set of her jaw, the white hair, the habit of blinking too many times… It was like we were family.

I can't tell this innocent girl in front of me. I can't let her share the same horrible fate.

"I can't tell you." I look up at her. She isn't even bothered by my different-coloured eyes. She just looks upset and angry.

"She's alive," I reassure her. "But I… can't have anyone else get hurt."

"You… you hurt her?" Her voice is dangerously soft.

"N-not me…" What a lie. What a big lie.

"Tell me where she is. Right now. Or I'll call the cops on you."

"I just don't want you to needlessly risk your life, that's all." You know, it was a good thing that ordinary people had this tendency to avoid me like the plague, otherwise it might have been awfully suspicious.

A flash of red catches my eye. Red eyes. Blood, blood red…

"I… have to go now. I'm- I'm sorry." I sprint as fast as possible in the complete opposite direction as the eyes, taking the phone with me.

Up the hill.

I'd never noticed just how far into the woods the circus actually is… with our position, we rarely have to move. We just get rid of the path and make a new one connecting to another town.

Good thing there is a path now, or I could have badly hurt myself.

Must get away from Tei…

Tei will tell. Tell master…

I run just a bit harder.

In the dense part of the woods, I relax a little, letting the sweat from my forehead fall onto the ground. My breath hitches in my throat when I hear a familiar voice I'd never heard before.

"That's my phone…"

I look up. Giant white-haired Haku is sitting against the tree, holding her ribs in obvious pain, but her face denies it.

"Yes." I puff.

"I was supposed to call Neru…"

"Yes." I agree again, straightening up, now that I have my strength back.

"She's worried sick… She'd kill herself trying to find me… But she never will…"

A chew the inside of my lip, hoping she isn't too angry at me. After all, being triple my height, she probably has triple my strength too.

"You look… familiar…"

She voices my thoughts. So, does this mean we've met before? But I could have sworn I'd never seen her before…

"As do you."

"You went to see her, didn't you?"

How come everyone knows exactly what I want them not to know? I say nothing and continue walking.

"… Please don't let her get hurt." I hear her say. I refrain from responding.

Tei is standing outside the tent. She smiles at me knowingly.

"You broke the rules today, Piko." She says in a voice eerily like the ringmaster's.

"That is punishable with death."

I shake my head. Stepping back. Trembling.

"Unless," She says slyly, tapping her chin with a dainty finger. "You help me."

"How?" I say instantly.

"I want to be in there." She points to the red-white building. "I want that job. I want you to help me get there."

"How?" I sound like a parrot, repeating the same phrase over and over.

"I need you to simply turn a blind eye to any accidents… Oh, and get me noticed by Master."

She licks her pale lips.

"I can't wait."

She forces me to kiss her hand. And kneel like a prince. Who is this girl?

Once she leaves, I am free to do as I will. I cry.

I hold Haku's phone and I cry.

I have no idea what to do. Help Tei? Help Neru? Help myself?

I don't want to die. I don't want others to die because of me.

But I don't want Tei taking over this place.

I make up my mind. Gritting my teeth, I set to work.

The plan I concoct is simple. This way I will help everyone.

Give Tei a knife. Or at least hint to her where one is. That should be easy enough to obtain. Take a ticket to the circus to Neru to trade for the knife. And pray she does not get hurt. And, if all goes well, cut the cord tying Haku to place. Unless it's made of steel.

And lastly, fake my death by the hands of the blue beast.

And escape.

At long last.

With this in mind to keep me motivated, I gather a few things I might need, including the phone.

I dial Neru's number.

"Neru? Hello? Yes, um, this may sound weird… but do you think you'd be able to meet me in town square tomorrow… 4 O'clock? Okay, um, how about next week then… Right, right… and uh… could you bring a knife? I'll explain everything later. And I'll tell you where you friend is… Yes… Alright. Goodbye."

I rub my hands with glee. Finally.

Master walks in on me.

"Piko, what are you doing?"

"Nothing of grave importance, sir." I say. My voice doesn't crack at all.

"Then get out there! They need your help to set up the tent for tomorrow's event!"

Once Master leaves, a hide a grin. He just has no idea…

That fateful morning, I wake up at dawn and get myself ready, preparing myself for any encounter. My mind cannot be kept off today's events.

I find Neru easily in the near-empty square, and signal for her to come into a shady alley. She must think I'm a loon or a murderer, of which I am none. So I tell myself.

Her hands grip the knife so hard her knuckles are white.

"Hand it over."

"What are you going to do with it?" Cautious now, of all times?

"Nothing to you. I'm going to give it to someone." I take it from her hands, with a bit of a struggle, and place it, sheathed, in my pocket.

"Now…" I pull out the ticket.

"You said you'd tell me where she is!" Neru glares now, looking to hit me.

"Just take it. You'll understand if you go."

She stares at it as if it were a snake, but snatches it anyway and stuffs in her pocket.

"Just don't get caught." And with that, I twirl and run in the opposite direction. Now she definitely thinks I'm a loon.

"Tei?" I call out. Said girl pokes her head from the creature's tent. She spends a lot of time with them, doesn't she?

"Yes, Piko?"

"Here." I thrust the knife into her hands. "Take it. And here are the keys. I have no idea how you got out last time, but take them."

She does so, with a look of sinister glee on her face.

"Thank you _very_ much, Piko." She looks me straight in the eye, sending shivers down my spine.

I leave for my own room, where my stuff is packed. I take out my phone and stare at it, running my eyes over the somewhat cracked screen. Then, I throw it onto the floor and smash it with my heel. It makes a satisfying crunch. What remains of it, I throw outside in the long grass.

Nobody will have any need of that phone anymore. There is nothing left I can do.

When I am sure that Tei has left the creatures alone, I creep inside. They look at me so sadly. Except the female twin, who grins madly. And the blue beast, who is sleeping like a dog.

I have to steel myself in order to dive further into the tent, past the many creatures and to the main attractions.

I look up at one. The singing diva. How nice. It's a shame she's so disfigured.

She stares back at me. Expecting something.

"I've come to ask a favour of you."

She obviously wasn't expecting that.

"I need you to pretend I'm dead. Can you do that?"

I pause for her to nod. She just stares.

"I have some spare clothes and raw meat. I am going to feed it to the blue beast over there-"

"His name is Kaito."

"What?" I ask, before the surprise of the creature speaking settles in.

"Kaito. He has feelings too."

I don't know how to reply to that, so I just continue explaining my plan.

"Kaito, then, can you pretend that, I don't know, he ate me or something?"

I hear a snap of a twig, ironically, and turn to find the youngest member of our team, a young girl with light blue hair. She looks at me in horror.

"You heard nothing, okay?" I threaten weakly. She falls for it though, and trembles.

"I have an idea. You, what's your name?"

"R-Ring…" her lip trembles adorably.

"Ring, you're going to pretend you found me, um, outside the tent. And, uh, that you brought me here as food for him, got it?"

I probably scared her half to death with that description.

"If anyone asks, tell them that Tei told you to do it." I add, remembering the promise I made to her. At the mention of Tei's name, Ring jumped. So, it seems I'm not the only one who finds her slightly creepy.

Looking back at the creatures, some who have functionally brains and are looking back at me with understanding, and others who are insane and unable to function.

"What's your name?" I ask the diva with surprising gentleness. She replies with a 'Miku'.

"Miku, are you certain that everyone here will tell that story? And not rat me out? I'm going to finally escape." I try to communicate my earnestness with her. She seems to understand.

"Then goodbye. I will never see you again, if all goes well."

Insane-female-twin claps as I depart. I can imagine her eerie grin boring into my back…

Once all is done and prepared for, I make to leave the horrid place. Haku catches my eye as I sneak out a back way, when people are filing in.

"You're leaving…" She states. It isn't a question.

"Yes." I say hurriedly. "But, uh… You might find someone important to you if you look hard enough."

Without bothering to wait for her to puzzle that over, I creep across the circus grounds and out of the light. I am nearly free-

"Where do you think you're going?"

I freeze in my tracks. That voice…

"Piko, I can ignore your wrongdoings once, but twice…" Tei leans in close to my ear. "Is _unforgiveable_."

I shudder. Her hand clamps tightly over my shoulder. My rucksack falls to the floor.

"Rule number one: No fraternizing with customers," Why does that sound so eerily familiar? Tei cocks a gun.

"Rule number two: Don't spend unnecessary time with the creatures." She puts a magazine in the pistol.

"Rule number three: Don't disrespect the ringmaster." She grins crookedly and holds the gun in line with my chest.

"And now that I'm his right-hand man, I think I deserve that respect too, don't you?" She giggles.

I'm sweating heavily now, the only thing keeping me from falling to the ground are my locked knees. I can't make a sound, even as Tei shoves her red, red eyes in front of mine.

"By the way, the creatures told me about your plot. I knew you were hiding someone," Her finger pulls the trigger. "And now we have her too."

My vision is getting blurry… I can barely see Tei stride away from me… My chest…

Red falls onto the ground… everything is red, red…

I open my mouth to scream, but only red comes out.

Wait… the blackness is closing in… I…

… Augh…

**...**

**...You didn't think I'd let Piko survive, did you? MWA HAHA OF COURSE NOT! I am evil.  
>I quite enjoyed almost getting into the mind of a not-quite-stable guy. I mean, he was supposed to be kind of insane... but that didn't really come through an awful lot...<strong>

**If you didn't get it, good. If you did, well done.**

**Much darker... and better. Someone tell me if I should do all the oneshots in present tense, or if I should change tenses like I change pretty much everything else...**

**AND if anything here didn't quite fit with the details described in the first chapter, ignore it. I have to bend reality sometimes to fit the story. And I forget things easily.**

**I promise not all the oneshots will be this long! Sorry for burning your eyes out!**

**Author of the day: If you enjoyed this, you should check out some of Ten-Faced's fics. If you despised this piece of work, then you can still look her up. She's really cool, and her fics are awesome, and very reader-friendly. Also, as I learned the hard way, she REALLY loves to keep a billion chats going at once ==**

**Kidding, kidding. Please don't hurt me...**

**Okay, see you bye!**


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